Strange Company

Under Appreciated

STRANGE COMPANY
 
 
My personal favorite among Wendy Waldman’s albums is Strange Company, a 1978 release that has Waldman performing more as a rock bandleader than a singer/songwriter; “Long Hot Summer Nights” was a regional hit that still echoes in my interior playlist from time to time more than 30 years later.  Several of the other musicians on this album – who formed a band having the unfortunate name the Cretones – also backed Linda Ronstadt on her 1980 New Wave album, Mad Love.  
 
(January 2010)
 
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Speaking of Mad Love – Linda Ronstadt’s new-wave album that featured several songs by Elvis Costello – a couple of years earlier, Wendy Waldman had recorded an album called Strange Company that represented a bit of a departure for her as well; she was even backed by several of the same musicians.  For all I know, Linda heard that album and came up with the idea for her own LP.  Strange Company is my favorite album of hers; the cover alone is a real hoot – it has the appearance of what the National Enquirer looked like back then, with several faux tabloid stories and photographs showing what Wendy had been up to and whom she had been seen with.
 
(January 2012)
 
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I forgot to include the YouTube links for Wendy Waldman last month, so here they are.  Her regional hit song Long Hot Summer Nights (from Strange Companyis at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOuVNeMjBSQ (no video to go with this one, though you do get to see the cool National Enquirer-style album cover).  It seems like every musician who sticks around a while comes up with a song about summer memories, but Wendy’s is one of the few that doesn’t focus on the Sun.  These are just the tip of the iceberg though – there are dozens more available. 
 
(February 2012)
 
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But for sheer “what-were-they-thinking” wonderment, it is hard to top the name the Cretones; who knows how much more success they could have had with a less cringe-worthy name.  Mark Goldenberg (guitar), Peter Bernstein (bass) and Steve Beers (drums) were the core of the backing band for past UARA Wendy Waldman on what for my money is her strongest album, Strange Company (1978).  The Cretones; were born after the three added Steve Leonard (keyboards).  
 
(July 2012)
 
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Here are the four albums by Wendy Waldman that I have so far – Wendy WaldmanGypsy SymphonyThe Main Refrain, and Strange Company –  and they sure won’t be the last.  Maybe that’s enough of a photo gallery for now: 
 
 
(January 2013)
 
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A recent check found that the YouTube video given above for “Long Hot Summer Nights” by Wendy Waldman has been terminated.  Here is another:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOuVNeMjBSQ 
 
(October 2013)
 
Last edited: March 22, 2021